Patch 5.2: Drop rates clarified for keys to the Treasure Room

You may recall WoW Insider posting a while back about the Treasure Room solo scenario added in patch 5.2. It's a timed, five-minute all-you-can-grab loot fest, to be carried out while avoiding traps and mobs to get the most out of your run.

Entry is secured by looting a Key to the Palace of Lei Shen from any creature on the island, then heading over to find Taoshi with the Shado-Pan in their cave, where the Throne of Thunder raid entrance is. The key is used to start the scenario, via a quest.

Bashiok has confirmed that players can, unfortunately, only obtain a drop of this key once per week. Once you have looted a key, you will not find another on that character until the week is up, no matter how much you farm for them. This is likely a measure to keep the number of runs through the Treasure Room in check, as runs on the PTR could easily net several hundred gold, not to mention a plentiful stash of Motes of Harmony, Elder Charms and the like. Having a source for these sorts of things that was only limited by the number of mobs a player is willing to kill could have resulted in some minor issues. Bashiok does add that "Additional keys can potentially drop from other select sources, but are extremely rare and not something you can try to farm."

What's more, the same is true for Shan'ze Ritual Stones, used to summon elites. Only one stone can be looted per character per week. Hit the break for Bashiok's full post.

Bashiok

Just to clarify on drop chances for ritual stones and keys, you can only obtain one Key to the Palace of Lei Shen (aka treasure room) from any creature on the island, including the Isle of Thunder Rare Elites. Once you've already looted one off of a creature, no more will drop from creatures for your character that week. Additional keys can potentially drop from other select sources, but are extremely rare and not something you can try to farm.

Similarly, you can only obtain one Shan'ze Ritual Stone from an Isle of Thunder Rare Elite per week. You'll still be able to collect more from other sources, though.